It’s common for older homes to have an unfinished basement: concrete floor and sheetrock-less stud walls. But, what happens when a person wants to refinish that basement? Often the concrete floors are cracked from the foundation’s settling over years. The floors may have low spots, and, in general, just seem to be in dire need of repair. There are several options for fixing the floor, however, one of the most common is to level the floor with a concrete leveling compound. It’s easy to do, there’s very little prep work or previous knowledge needed to use the product, and the only places where you’ll lose some valuable inches of headroom are where the floor once drooped in a low spot.

To begin the process of leveling the floor, clean the floor with a degreaser. Also make sure that any debris within any cracks within the concrete floor are removed, so that the leveling compound bonds strongly with the surface of the concrete and between the cracks. Also, if the room has any trim, remove it, or you will essentially be gluing it down into the new floor. Also, make sure to cover all of the drainpipes in the floors with a plastic pipe that is in an identical size to the floor drain.

There are two options here, one more difficult and more timely, and the other one is quick and easy. If the floor is only slightly out of level, you can pour the leveling compound onto the floor and distribute it with a squeegee. The squeegee will spread the compound out evenly over the floor, and it will settle over the low spots, thereby leveling the floor. If the floor has high-high spots, places where the concrete is practically heaving upward, you may want to grind down the concrete in these areas to make for a more level surface.

Leveling compounds are efficient at leveling a floor, however, if the concrete floor is merely cracked and ugly looking, the leveling compounds can be used to fill in these cracks and smooth out the appearance of the floor as well.